A candidate has emerged as a front-runner in Vertex’s quest for the perfect non-opioid pain drug.
The Boston-based biotech says its selective NaV1.8 inhibitor VX-548 will now push on to a midstage test after a successful phase 1 safety trial. The new study will assess the drug in patients with acute pain after bunionectomy surgery or abdominoplasty. The goal will be to reduce pain intensity over 48 hours of treatment.
Vertex is searching for a new pain drug that can provide relief to patients without the addictive properties and other side effects of opioid painkillers. The company is set on the NaV1.8 approach, a channel that is believed to play a critical role in pain signaling in the nervous system.
But a number of NaV1.8 inhibitor candidates have been offered up by the company in early-stage research, only to be smacked down when the data picture became clearer. In January 2020, Vertex dropped VX-961 after phase 1 data did not meet the company’s pharmacokinetic and tolerability profile. VX-961 had been selected to advance in research instead of another candidate called VX-150.
Vertex said at the time it was looking for a candidate that matches how pain drugs are typically used. They need to be taken with and without food and not interact with other drugs.
Now, the company believes it has a leader.
“We are excited about VX-548, a potent NaV1.8 inhibitor, and we are moving forward to the Phase 2 proof-of-concept trials with urgency, as these studies are the key next step toward our ultimate goal of developing transformative medicines for the treatment of pain,” said Carmen Bozic, M.D., Vertex’s chief medical officer and executive vice president for global medicines development and medical affairs.
The trial is expected to begin in the second half of 2021.